Liberty (1-0) defeated Bowling Green (0-1), 34-24, on Saturday afternoon at Williams Stadium to pick up a win in the first game of the Jamey Chadwell and Conference USA era. The final score was closer than the Flames would have preferred, particularly after jumping out to a 24-0 first half lead, but it still goes down in the win column.
“I was very proud of our response in the second half,” Coach Chadwell said following the game. “We came out and were up 24-0, and things were going well. We had some special teams miscues, let them get back in the game. They drive the field there in the third quarter. We were able to hold them out to a field goal. It goes back and forth. The biggest question mark I think our staff had is how we would respond to some adversity when it got tight. I’m very proud of that.”
The victory was Chadwell’s first at Liberty and his 100th career victory as a head coach. He is now 100-57 in his career that spans 13 seasons as a head coach, and now improves to 3-0 all-time at Williams Stadium, having won in his first two trips to Lynchburg while a head coach at Charleston Southern.
“The first one is always the hardest one, especially at a new place,” Chadwell said of the win. “You have high expectations for yourself and your program, and we have obviously high expectations here. This felt like my first game ever, to be honest with you, I hadn’t felt that in a long time. It was good to get that out of the way just because it was a place here that you’ve dreamed about for a while and then you’re actually here and want to do well for the people that believe in you. I’m glad to get that out of the way and now we can get back to normal.”
Liberty took the opening kickoff and marched downfield to give the Flames its first touchdown of the Chadwell era. Duquesne transfer running back Billy Lucas capped a nine-play, 71-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run less than five minutes into the contest.
After much debate in the preseason, Kaidon Salter got the nod at starting quarterback. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. The redshirt-sophomore, who started four games in 2022, also was the team’s leading rushing with a career-high 82 yards on 19 carries. Most importantly though, Salter did not turn the ball over on the afternoon.
“He took care of the ball, he handled his business, he didn’t get down on himself when he didn’t make the plays that he needed to,” Chadwell said of his quarterback. “I thought he made pretty smart decisions. We can build off that.”
While the Liberty defense held the Falcons in check, the Liberty offense was able to provide some separation. Midway through the second quarter, Salter completed his first touchdown pass of 2023. He lofted a ball over a defender to find true freshman running back Vaughn Blue in the back of the end zone with a 12-yard pass play, giving Liberty a 14-0 edge.
Three plays later, Liberty corner Kobe Singleton picked off a Connor Bazelak pass over the middle, returning it 36 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0. The lead grew to 24-0 before Bowling Green came roaring back.
After getting on the board for the first time in the 2023 campaign to cut their deficit to 24-7, the Falcons got the big momentum boost it was looking for.
With the Flames lining up to go for it on 4th and short in the red zone and less than a minute to play in the half, Liberty got a Bowling Green defender to jump into the neutral zone but the ball was snapped to get the flag call and help the team pick up a first down. The Flames would then call a timeout and attempt a field goal. The kick would be blocked and returned for a touchdown, bringing Bowling Green within 24-14 entering the locker room for the halftime break.
Facing their first on field adversity of the new season and new coaching staff, the Flames responded in the second half.
“We’ve been challenging them since fall camp started,” Chadwell said. “We’ve been through a lot together. We’ve been through a lot together here, just challenges we’ve faced on and off the field. I told them last night that you’ve shown that you’re resilient. It’s going to have to show up today.”
Bowling Green took the opening drive of the second half to pull within a score, 24-17, on a 34-yard field goal. Liberty quickly answered the following drive, on a 17-yard scoring strike from Salter to tight end Bentley Hanshaw. Bowling Green pulled back within a score, 31-24, on their next drive.
Liberty linebacker Jerome Jolly had a career game, finishing second on the team with six tackles also with two very key interceptions. A Teagen Lenderink 36-yard field goal with 2:52 to play pushed the score to its final margin.
“The effort, the attitude, and their resiliency we showed, I’m proud of that,” stated Chadwell. “We can build off of that. There are obviously a lot of things we can improve on, but I was proud of that effort and coming out and fighting for four quarters. That’s what we challenged them to do and to believe in each other – don’t waiver, don’t doubt, keep striking that stone – that’s our mindset and they did a great job.”
Liberty edged the visiting Falcons in total offense, 389-328, aided by the Flames’ 246 rushing yards. Liberty averaged 5.0 yards per carry with the 49 carries shared between four players.
Wake Forest transfer running back Quinton Cooley finished the game with 16 carries for 78 yards. Vaughn Blue had four carries for 50 yards and Billy Lucas added eight carries for 38 yards and a touchdown.
Salter targeted nine different players with Treon Sibley leading the team with three receptions for 56 yards. Coastal Carolina transfer Aaron Bedgood followed with two catches for 31 yards.
Liberty’s defense made its presence known with five interceptions that led to 13 points. The five picks tied a Williams Stadium record. Tyren Dupree led the Flames’ defense with a career-high 10 tackles.
Liberty will play its first CUSA game next weekend by playing host to New Mexico State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+. It will mark Liberty’s first conference game since Nov. 18, 2017 when the Flames closed its time in the FCS level with a 20-19 loss at Charleston Southern in a Big South Conference game.
